The Rugby Championship kicks off for 2017 this weekend, starting with old foes New Zealand and Australia facing off in a match that doubles as the first of the three-match Bledisloe Cup series. So where will the two matches be played, what time do they kick off, and who will feature?

Hayne heading back to the unknown

New San Francisco 49ers coach Chip Kelly is itching to "talk football" and take a look at Jarryd Hayne and the rest of the team in the flesh after months restricted to watching his players on video tape.

The 49ers convene at their Santa Clara headquarters on April 4 for the first day of their offseason program with NFL rules preventing Kelly and his co-ordinators from holding specific football conversations with players until that date.

"We get time to see them, meet them, talk football with them and then you get that minicamp so you actually get to get on the field and see them run around so you can make an assessment of everybody," Kelly told reporters at the NFL owners' meetings in Florida on Wednesday.

When Hayne arrives in Santa Clara he'll meet a coaching staff largely made up of strangers after the 49ers sacked last season's head coach Jim Tomsula, offensive co-ordinator Geep Chryst, special teams co-ordinator Thomas McGaughey and other key staff following a dismal and dysfunctional season.

Kelly and his co-ordinators need to quickly assess the 90-man squad so they can make the right moves at the April 28 NFL Draft, but more restrictions will work against them.

Hayne and his team-mates will largely be involved in strength and conditioning work for the first three weeks after their arrival.

Then when the mini-camp is held players will be allowed on the field, but won't wear pads.